Pattern mechanism



1955 F. D. RICKERT ETAL 2,698,532

PATTERN MECHANISM Filed July 9. 1952 2 $hee ts-Sheet l IN V EN T 0R5 FEEDER/67f DAN/EL R/c/(ERT y W/[L MM ROBERT P057 1955 F. D. RICKERT ET AL 2,698,532

PATTERN MECHANISM Filed July 9. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS FfiEDER/C/IDAN/fl R/CXMT BY W/LL/AM ROBERT P057 Fig.7. Fig.5. fig Arro/ United States Patent PATTERN MECHANISM Frederick Daniel Rickert and William Robert Post, Reading, Pa., assignors to Infants Socks, 1120., Reading, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application July 9, 1952, Serial No. 297,876

7 Claims. (Cl. 66-135) The present invention relates to the art of knitting machinery and more particularly to an improvement in patterning mechanism of the type used to selectively control the position of an instrumentality having a series of patterning butts thereon.

In the knitting art it is customary to control certain phases of the knitting operation, particularly designs knit into the fabric on circular knitting machinery, by means of a series of closely adjacent frangible butts extending outward from a long side of each of a plurality of relatively long thin control instrumentalities which are individually associated with (or may be an integral part of) certain of the knitting machine elements, for example, needles, sinkers, yarn-wrap fingers, etc., to control their actions and so control the fabric as it is being made on the machine. Generally the instrumentalities, or jacks, are arranged vertically in a series of parallel slots cut lengthwise in the outside of a cylinder so as to present a circular series of closely adiacent projecting butts at each of a number of closely adjacent successive levels (certain of the butts having been removed in accordance with the control requirements) in which position the butts may be acted upon by butt-actuating means revolving in a circular path relative to the jack cylinder, this means generally acting to move the butts and iacks radially inwardly as the first step in the control action of the associated knitting machine elements. The butt-actuating means may comprise either a series of cams, one for each butt level, which are selectively moved inwardly to butt-actuating position or may comprise a single cam in butt-actuating position which is selectively moved to each butt level; each of such buttactuating means being moved by suitable means under pattern control.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved single butt-actuating cam adapted to rotate relative to a number of circular series of closely adjacent projecting butts positioned at closely adjacent successive levels, and which is adapted to be moved to each of said levels in either butt-actuating or in non-butt-actuating position.

It is also an obiect of the present invention to provide an improved single butt-actuating cam adapted to move in either direction in successive steps from one butt level to the next in butt-actuating position and which is adapted to move in the opposite direction in successive steps in non-butt-actuating position.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide self-actuating means to automatically move the butt-actuating cam to and from its butt-actuating and its non-buttactuating positions.

In addition to the above it is an object to provide a pivotally mounted butt-actuating cam adapted to be swung to and from butt-actuating position by reversable selfacting means at both ends of its vertical travel and to provide means to retain the butt-actuating cam in either of its positions. means permitting the knitting of the design in the fabric in reversed position relative to the direction of the knitting.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. l is a sectional view showing a portion of a rib wrap fabric knitting machine with the present invention applied to the actuating means for the butts on the wrap finger operating jacks;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

The reversable nature of the cam positioning Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the apparatus of the present invention showing the swing cam in one operative position;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3 showing the swing cam in the other operative position;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention with the swing cam in butt-actuating positron;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the swing cam in non-butt-actuating position;

Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of one position of the swing cam positioning pin member; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the swing cam positioning pin member in its second reversed position.

The present invention has been illustrated as applied to a machine of the type shown in Larkin U. S. Patent No. 2,051,724 issued August 18, 1936, in which there is disclosed a rib wrap hosiery top fabric knitting machine provided with individual wrap fingers having wrap yarns adapted to be selectively fed to the cylinder needles for the incorporation of a wrap yarn design in the fabric under the control of jacks individually associated with the fingers, the jacks each having a series of butts which in turn are under the control of and are actuated by pattern controlled butt-actuating means. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the machine of the Larkin patent nor to the control of fingers but may be used in the control of butts on any kind of control or knitting instrumentalities in any type of machine. In the above patent each jack 26 is provided with twenty-five closely adjacent butts numbered a through y which are selectively actuated by a series of twenty-five cams 101 through 125 under the control of a trick wheel by means of which twenty-five steps control of the wrap design in the fabric is achieved.

In certain installations of the machines built according to the above patent it has been found desirable to replace the trick wheel and its associated twenty-five cams with a single vertically movable butt-actuating cam under the control of links on a pattern chain to act upon the butts and to control the jacks of the machine; however in such replacements it has been found necessary to reduce the selective capacity of the machine from twenty-five steps to twenty steps and further it has also been found necessary that in order to reverse a design in the fabric (as may be required for hose having turned down tops as compared to the non-reversed fabric design for hose having straight upstanding tops) the set of jacks must be replaced with a new set upon which the butts for the same design are set out in reverse order. The reason for this is that while the single cam must actuate the jack butts at each level as it moves upward step-by-step under control of progressively higher links of the pattern chain from the level of butt a to the level of butt y, it must not actuate any butts during its return downward movement to the level of butt a preparatory to beginning a new pattern for this would cause wrap yarn to be knitted into the fabric where it was not desired. Accordingly to overcome this objection, every fifth jack butt has been removed all the way around the machine (leaving only twenty butts upon which the pattern may be set out) and on the way up the single cam moves step-by-step under control of the pattern chain, with a two-butt-level step where the circle of butts have been removed, to cause the jacks to operate the fingers to knit the pattern, while on the way down preparatory to beginning a new pattern the single cam, by means of links of suitable heighth on the pattern chain, is caused to successively move five butts or levels at each step to arrive at the levels where the entire circle of butts has been removed. In this way during the one or more necessary revolutions of the machine between movements of the cam in a vertical direction there will be no knitting of the wrap yarns for there will be no butts at those levels. It is customary to arrange the jacks so that the cam may move from one level to the next without interference with the butts.

While it is possible, in order to knit a pattern which begins with the lowermost jack butts, to raise the cam step-by-step from one patterning butt level to the next and to return the cam five butt levels at each step; it is not possible to knit a reversed pattern in the fabric using the same jacks, i. e. a pattern which begins with the uppermost jack butts, for that would require that the cam descend from one patterning level to the next which is possible and also require that the cam be raised to initial position at the rate of five butt levels at each step which is physically impossible for the link-chain method of moving the cam. While the chain can permit the lowering of the cam five butt levels at one step it is incapable of raising the cam the same distance in one step. Accordingly when it has been desirable to reverse the design pattern in the fabric it has been necessary to install a completely new set of jacks in the machine with the pattern reversed in the butt set-up.

It will thus be understood that not only has the patterning capacity of the machine been undesirably reduced from twenty-five steps to twenty steps but also that the productive capacity is necessarily curtailed during the time required to install a new set of jacks for reversed patterns. In addition to these undesirable features there is the matter of the expense of the new jacks and the labor of installing them.

All of the above objectionable features are obviated by the present invention wherein a single butt-actuating cam is adapted to act upon all twenty-five butts of the finger actuating jacks to retain the full patterning capacity of the machine; is adapted to act upon successive butt levels stepby-step beginning with either the uppermost or the lowermost butt and to return to its initial position without operating any of the butts, so that reversed patterns may be made upon the same set of jacks.

In the portion of the machine of the Larkin patent shown in the present drawings there is provided a rotary plate which rotates counterclockwise, Fig. 2, and a stationary finger cylinder 11 having slots 12 in which pivotally mounted fingers 13 and operating jacks 14 having frangible butts 15 are mounted, all in a manner as explained in the said patent. The apparatus of the present invention indicated generally at 16 is supported in depending position relative to the rotary plate 10 by means of the spaced parallel posts 17 and 18 which extend into suitable apertures in the plate, being held there by suitable set screws such as 19 shown holding the post 18. The lower ends of posts 17 and 18 are secured to a bob cam 20 by means of screws 21, 21 extending through the cam 20 and into the posts. The edge of cam 20 serves to return the fingers 13 to withdrawn position as shown in Fig. 1 while its upper surface serves as a stop for and as means to move the pin 22 vertically as it moves toward the cam 20. The pin 22 is positioned for vertical movement in a suitable bearing aperture 23 formed in the bracket 24 of irregular shape which in turn is positioned for vertical movement on the posts 17 and 18 which are inserted in suitable bearing apertures 25 and 26 in the bracket 24. In order to move the bracket 24 and its associated parts up and down on the posts it is provided with a rearwardly extending pin supported roller 27, adjacent the post 18, which is adapted to enter between the outturned jaws 28, 28 of the vertically movable control member 29 and be raised or lowered thereby. The control member 29, which does not rotate, is progressively movable up or down step-by-step a distance corresponding to the distance it is desired to move the bracket 24 by means of suitable connections to links of suitable height on a progressively movable pattern chain (not shown) so that when the roller 27 of the rotating bracket 24 enters and rides up upon one or the other of the leading curved portions of the jaws 28, 28, it will be moved either up or down the desired distance during a short portion of one revolution of the machine depending upon whether the control member 29 was moved up or down in time to move the bracket in that One revolution. It will of course be understood that the control member 29 may remain at one level for one or more revolutions of the machine and that for those revolutions of the machine the bracket will remain unmoved vertically. In this way by means of links of suitable height on the chain, the bracket 24 may remain stationary or be moved a step at a time in either direction which step may be the distance from one butt level to the next butt level or may be greater than this distance depending upon the pattern set-up of the machine. The bracket 24 may be frictionally held against accidental displacement by means of friction plug 30, spring 31, and adjustable screw 32 set in the bracket 24 and which exerts a rgstraining force against post 18, as shown in dotted lines in ig. 1.

In order to actuate the butts 15 there is provided the member 33 having the undercut curved butt-actuating camming edge 34, the member 33 being positioned in a groove in and pivotally mounted at one of its ends on a suitable fiat portion of bracket 24 adjacent the post 17 by means of the bearing stud 35 so that the member 33, which may be trmed a swing cam, is adapted to be moved toward the butts 15 into active butt-actuating position and away from the butts 15 into inactive non-butt-actuating position in which latter position the cam 33 comes to rest against the bottom of the groove cut in the bracket 24 acting as a stop member. A tension spring 36 suitably attached to the free end of the swing cam 33 and to a pin 37 on bracket 24 urges the cam to its outer inactive position. The means which positions cam 33 in its two positions is the pin 22 shown alone in Figs. 7 and 8 in its two operating positions, one being the reverse of the other for the purpose of causing the cam 33 to reverse its action when it is desired to reverse the position of the design pattern in the fabric. The pin 22 is positioned, in either of the positions of Figs. 7 or 8, for limited vertically sliding movement in aperture 23 of the bracket 24 wherein the rounded rear edge of cam 33 is adapted to come into contact with certain of the peripheral portions of the pin 22 depending upon the position desired for the cam 33. The pin 22, itself circular in cross-section at any point along its operative length so that it will be equally effective in any angular position, has the centrally disposed section 38 of a certain diameter and which is slidably disposed in aperture 23 of the bracket, with adjacently disposed sections of reduced diameter 39 and 40, the section 40 being of a lesser diameter than the section 39 and followed by a section 41 of the same diameter as section 39, while the section 39 is followed by a section 42 of the same diameter as section 40, the sections 41 and 42 being respectively followed by adjacently disposed larger diameter sections 43, 44 having flat outer surfaces 45 and 46.

When the pin 22 is positioned in the upright position of Fig. 8 in the bracket 24, see Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 6, and when the bracket is in its lowermost position, Figs. 1, 4, 5, the end face 45 of the pin rests upon the upper face of bob cam 20 and causes the pin section 39 to be aligned and in contact with the rear edge of swing cam 33 so that the latter is pivotally moved toward the finger cylinder 11 sufficiently to be in position to actuate the butts 15, the cam 33 being urged by spring 36 against the section 39 which retains the pin 22 in this vertical position. In this position of the parts, Figs. 1, 5, the bracket 24 is ready to be moved upwardly step-by-step in accordance with and by the action of the control member as the latter is positioned by the pattern chain (not shown). If the step-bystep movement is from one butt level to the next, the cam 33 will in turn actuate the pattern arranged butts at all twenty-five levels. After the last upper butt level has been reached the bracket 24 is given an additional upward movement, Fig. 6, dotted line position of Fig. 4, during which the upper surface 46 of the pin comes into contact with and is depressed by an overlying projecting stud 47 set in collar 48 adjustably secured to post 17, this downward movement of the pin 22 relative to the bracket 24 causing pin section 39 to pass below cam 33 and be replaced by the smaller diameter pin section 42 of sufiiciently small diameter as to permit the swing cam 33, by action of spring 36, to be moved sufliciently outwardly from the needle cylinder to miss the butts and to be in inactive or non-buttactuating position. With the swing cam 33 in this outer position the bracket may be safely lowered step-by-step at the rate of one or more butt levels per step by the action of control member 29 to the lowermost position of Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6 without any danger of actuating the butts. As

the bracket is given its last downward movement the face 45 of the pin comes into contact with and is moved upwardly by the bob cam 20 causing pin section 42 to rise above cam 33 and be replaced by section 39, thereby moving the swing cam outwardly into active position preparatory to another raising of the bracket for another pattern in the fabric during the continued knitting thereof.

When it is desired to reverse the direction of the pattern design in the fabric it is merely necessary to reverse the position of pin 22 in bracket 24 from the position of Fig. 8 to that of Fig. 7 as shown in Fig. 3. In reversing the pattern the butts on the jacks are operated from their top level toward the bottom level instead of from the bottom level upward so that the bracket 24 must first be at the uppermost butt level with the swing cam in operative position. This is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 where pin 22, having been depressed by stud 47, has its pin section 41 in operative relation to the swing cam 33. From this dotted line position the bracket moves downwardly step-by-step in the manner explained until it reaches the full line position of Fig. 3 whereupon the face 46 of pin 22 comes into contact with and is raised by cam plate 20 so that pin section 41 is raised above the swing cam and is replaced by section 40 which permits the swing cam 33 to be moved outwardly to inactive position in the manner already explained. With cam 33 in the inactive position, the bracket may be safely raised to the dotted line position of Fig. 3 preparatory to knitting the next reversed pattern design in the fabric, the stud 47 acting upon the pin 22, as the bracket is raised, to lower the same so that pin section 41 is in position behind the swing cam to move it to active butt-actuating position.

It will be understood therefore that the present invention provides an improved pattern control apparatus in which a single cam is adapted to act upon the vertically disposed circular series of projecting butts of operating jacks of any type in a manner which permits the use of the full number of the butts for patterning purposes in the fabric and which permits of the actuation of the jacks beginning with the butts at either end of the jacks so that with a single set-up of jacks the design pattern being knit in the fabric may be readily and easily reversed in relation to the direction of the knitting of the fabric itself.

We claim:

1. In a circular knitting machine provided with a series of circularly arranged control instrumentalities having a number of circular series of actuating butts arranged at a number of closely adjacent levels, means to actuate said butts comprising a cam rotatable relative to said instrumentalities, said cam being adapted to move step-by-step in one direction transversely of said series of butt levels from a terminal butt level to each of the adjacent butt levels in turn while in butt actuating position and to move in the opposite direction to return to said terminal butt level while in non-butt actuating position, and self-acting means adapted to move said cam to non-butt actuating position while said cam is making its final movement in said one direction.

2. In a circular knitting machine provided with a series of circularly arranged jacks having a pattern series of butts arranged at a number of levels, means to actuate said jacks so that the full capacity of the butts may be used for patterning purposes, said means comprising a cam rotatable relative to said jacks and movable step-bystep from one terminal butt level to the opposed terminal butt level and back again, said cam being automatically placed in butt-actuating position by its movement in one direction and being automatically placed in non-buttactuating position by its movement in the opposite direction.

3. In a circular knitting machine provided with a series of circularly arranged jacks having a pattern series of butts arranged at a number of levels, means to actuate said jacks so that the full capacity of the butts may be utilized for patterning purposes, said means comprising a cam rotatable relative to said jacks and movable lengthwise thereof in turn from each end terminal butt level to the opposed terminal butt level, and self-acting means acting upon said cam at one end of its lengthwise movement to place said cam in butt-actuating position and acting upon said cam at the other end of its lengthwise movement to place said cam in non-butt-actuating position.

4. In a circular knitting machine as set forth in claim 2, self-acting means automatically operative upon said cam to place the latter in its defined positions during its final movements in opposite directions.

5. In a circular knitting machine as set forth in claim 3 in which said cam is pivotally mounted for movement toward said jacks to be in butt-actuating position and away from said jacks to be in non-butt-actuating position, and in which the said means provided to place the said cam in each of said positions is self-actuated.

6. In a circular knitting machine as set forth in claim 3 in which the means acting upon said cam is self-acting in the form of a reversely positionable lengthwise displaceable pin having sections of different diameters which are adapted to be placed so as to maintain said cam in each of said positions, said pin being adapted to be automatically displaced vertically in opposite directions at each end of the lengthwise travel of said cam.

7. In a circular knitting machine as set forth in claim 1 in which said self-acting means is adapted to move said cam to butt-actuating position while said cam is making its final movement in said opposite direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,678,385 Grothey July 24, 1928 2,555,140 Larkin May 29, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 279,151 Great Britain Oct. 17, 1927 

